| Fighting Tigers Roll Over Portsmouth Trojans by Darryl Jones The Ironton Fighting Tigers traveled to Portsmouth friday night and came away with a 29-0 victory over the trojans. The win upped the Tigers' record to 2-0 for the year and extended its' current winning streak to seven games. The win did not come as easily as the score would indicate, as the Tigers led only 9-0 at the half. After a scoreless first period which saw the ball turned over a total of five times, Ironton got the ball on their own 30 early in the second period and mounted their first scoring drive. Terry Royal started the 13 play drive which would eventually lead to a 31 yard field goal by Joe Fletcher. Royal gained 11 yards on the first play. The Tigers, later faced with a third and nine at the 42, got a 17 yard pass from Greg Ainsworth to Fletcher for a first down at the Portsmouth 41. Rodney Boykin then kept the drive alive with a two yard run on fourth down at the 2. Later, a holding penalty moved the Tigers back to the Trojan 29 but Ainsworth came back with a 14 yard strike to Fletcher, moving the ball to the 15. Ainsworth's attempted pass then fell short setting the stage for Fletchers' 31 yard field goal, which gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead with 4:36 left in the first half. Ironton took the ball back after only two Trojans plays on an interception by Royal. This time it took the Tigers only nine plays to cover the 53 yards with Boykin going in from two yards out at the 1:39 mark. The extra point attempt missed and Ironton held a 9-0 lead at halftime. In the third period, Royal picked off his second of the game to set up the first score of the second half. With a second and 10 at their own 37, halfback Gabriel Lewis threw a perfect strike to Fletcher for a 63 yard touchdown. Fletcher then added the extra point to make it 16-0 at the 5:05 mark. In the fourth period, Ironton marched 65 yards in seven plays for another score. In the drive, Ainsworth completed passes of 30, 5 and 7 yards with the final pass going to Fletcher for the score. After the extra point kick, Ironton led 22-0 with 7:40 left in the game. Late in the game, Ironton took over on downs at the Portsmouth 43. Seven plays later, reserve fullback Dave Bryant climaxed the scoring for the Tigers with a four yard run, setting the final 29-0 score. Back to 78 Tigers |